GOSSIP & RUMORS: Octomom Nadya Suleman’s kids speak out for the first time

Octomom Natalie “Nadya” Suleman’s children are addressing the public for the first time to defend their mother.

The mother of the history-making octuplets spoke out in a rare interview with People ahead of the upcoming Lifetime movie and docuseries about their life, titled “I Was Octomom” and “Confessions of Octomom,” both premiering in March.

While Suleman’s oldest kids “do not want to” break their silence publicly, the 49-year-old’s eight youngest children are ready to control their narrative.

“I’m just very excited,” Suleman’s daughter Nariyah, 15, told the outlet of their movie and docuseries. “Our mom would finally be able to say her side of the story, because I feel like it was very unfair how she was terrorized and hated for just being a mother. And she had to sacrifice so much just for her children.”

The news of the movie and docuseries comes as Suleman’s octuplets gear up to celebrate their 16th birthday on Jan. 26.

Suleman shared that her children wanted their story to be made public.

“I’ve been saying, I want to keep them safe and protect my kids, and well, they’re older now,” she told People. “They’re turning 16 and making the decision to really do this.”

In 2009, Suleman found unusual fame when she was implanted with 12 embryos by a Beverly Hills fertility specialist and became pregnant with eight out of the dozen.

She gave birth to the first surviving octuplets, which coined her with the nickname Octomom.

However, Suleman’s IVF choice was heavily criticized after it became known that she had struggled to take care of the six children she already had before welcoming her octuplets. To make ends meet, she turned to the adult film industry.

She explained the backlash, telling the outlet that she had only hoped for one more kid.

“The movie follows my journey, starting with my decision to have one more IVF procedure to try to complete my family of six,” she said. “I wanted only one more, to becoming a single mom of 14 and all the trials and tribulations, the challenges and struggles, what I had to do to continue to fight for my family.”

Saying that “in the beginning it was complete pandemonium,” Suleman talked about the scary details of raising 14 kids in the public eye.

“There was of course all of the details of the death threats and fearing for my family’s life. And then on the other hand, I had to continue to sacrifice my integrity repeatedly to survive and provide for my family,” she said.

 “It wasn’t until they were maybe about 4 years old, I finally was able to escape all of that, the attack it felt from the world…and all that global scorn and condemnation, being the target of misplaced hate. I could escape and finally go back to the life I had once known before,” Suleman added.

The single mom said she drew strength from her faith to help her through.

“I paid for nannies until they were 2 and then we were really struggling financially,” she said. “Eventually, I just had to lean in really to my faith, my very strong faith in God. And it wasn’t until I did that, everything fell into place beautifully.”

Suleman admitted she wasn’t ready for her octuplets to address the world.

“My kids are going to share for the first time. […] And actually, I didn’t even want [to speak out] to be honest,” she said.

She knows she’s again opening herself up to scrutiny with the movie and documentary. However, Suleman, who recently became a grandmother, is choosing to stay positive.

“I’m not this compartmentalized caricature,” Suleman said. “I am not Octomom, I’m a mom.”

She added, “The main reasons for me in sharing my true story, my perspective, is to help people, to help women in particular who are struggling with one child or none, to maybe inspire them to pull out the strengths inside that they didn’t know they had to progress forward, to keep progressing in their life.”

“I Was Octomom” and “Confessions of Octomom” premieres on Lifetime March 8 and March 10, respectively.